JERSEY CITY | Journal Squared Phase 2 | 759 FT | 72 FLOORS

[Nexis4Jersey]

This NEEDS to be accompanied by more PATH service. It's way too crowded as is. Unfortunately, the stupid Port Authority is borrowing money to build office towers...



It's a subway. You swipe your card and ride it places.

Aside from the upgrade underway or was underway to boost capacity by 50,000 you can't do much other then build another crossing like the Gateway Project proposed by Amtrak and develop in areas that can handle the strain. The Hoboken Network of the PATH is under capacity , develop in or near that station or Newport to off set the Journal SQ and Newark lines which are at capacity....or build a new tunnel which is highly unlikely. There was a proposal to Extend Regional Rail into Lower Manhattan just after 9/11 but this was quietly sweep under the rug , it would have relieved the PATH , N/Q/4/5/6 lines at half the cost of the SAS and Gateway Project....it would have given all the Suburban riders direct access to the Wall Street job hub without mixing with the Urban areas thus freeing up capacity...

[summersm343]

Your right , this area really doesn't have the Infrastructure road or transit wise to support these monsters these buildings would be better for Downtown Newark or Downtown Jersey City. The Original plan was 2 towers now its 3? This isn't the first project in that area , all have failed or gotten kickbacks then failed... The Neighborhood wanted something smaller like a mid rise , not a supertall which I can agree with.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this project is slightly farfetched.

[summersm343]

Journal Square and environs...


Eating in Translation (http://www.flickr.com/photos/eatingintranslation/216253214/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/59/216253214_d24c5423d0_b.jpg



Dan Beards (http://www.flickr.com/photos/7355435@N04/2509436386/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2316/2509436386_9ecb82e6d7_b.jpg



Projectionist (http://www.flickr.com/photos/73927115@N00/7051937631/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5336/7051937631_0a2ed7d285_b.jpg

Thanks. I've been to Journal Square. I know there are very few highrises... at least not nearly enough to warrant a 70 story building.

[Thundertubs]

I thought it was just strip malls. I don't think many people work, shop, eat and live there. I doubt any of my friends in NYC have been there.

Not being insular, it's just a totally random place and I don't see this development jump-starting growth. It's just not an accessible neighborhood nor an in-demand location.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Lu1ECQKkSn8/TIGfKE0E9YI/AAAAAAAABMI/Hwe0bZo0Ggg/s1600/NewYorker1976-03-29cover.png
source (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Lu1ECQKkSn8/TIGfKE0E9YI/AAAAAAAABMI/Hwe0bZo0Ggg/s1600/NewYorker1976-03-29cover.png)

[Crawford]

Thanks. I've been to Journal Square. I know there are very few highrises... at least not nearly enough to warrant a 70 story building.

Well then you're in luck. There are like five towers in that rough 60-70 floor range coming to Journal Square.

No need to worry about this tower feeling lonely; it will have plenty of similarly tall friends. ;)

[Inkoumori]

Building tall for the sake of building tall is unnecessary.

Except when there is a housing shortage and fewer people owning cars perhaps?;)

We're talking 400' to 700' buildings at a transport hub, hardly ego-driven supertalls.

[Nexis4Jersey]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this project is slightly farfetched.

Journal SQ is the area of the city where people who don't make 80-200k live but work in NYC or Newark and it needs to stay that way... Jersey City is slowly eroding at the hard working class neighborhoods and thats a sad thing....where will those people go... Where already seeing people leaving JSQ for Newark...which is good Newark needs the support...but what happens when even Newark becomes to expensive. This region is way to expensive as a whole , we don't need to price out even more working class areas for honestly no reason other then greed. Theres still tons of undeveloped land in Transit saturated areas better equipped to handled the added traffic , like the backside of Newport , Canal Crossing , Exchange Place & Newport. I'm not anti-Development , I'm not a NIMBY , but lets be reasonable here does JSQ need a massive tower like that? It would stick out as a sore thumb....and burden the community....

[Inkoumori]

A highrise does not = higher rents

But, we also don't want to become another Detroit (NY as a whole). I don't know what the fix is, but Journal Square can handle 5k or so new inhabitants without destroying its character.

[aquablue]

No need to be rude. Do you know anything about urban development? Because it is clear you don't. When in an area with low highrise density, it is important not to over saturate the area with a development too large. I understand that it is close to a transit hub linking it to Manhattan, but even so, there is a limited market of people willing to live in Jersey City... most people who can't afford Manhattan just opt for Brooklyn. Even Jersey City is becoming extremely expensive these days and it has an uncertain future. Like I said, something in the 300-400 foot range would be a better bet and a much more financially stable project. There is to live in Journal Square, but there is a bigger desire to live on the Jersey City waterfront... there is already an established highrise community there instead of one just trying to get off the ground. This development could singlehandedly destroy that momentum. This should be proposed on the waterfront and a smaller development should be proposed here.

IDK if you just don't understand this or if you are just being short sighted because the height of the building is making you drool.

Well, now your the one who is being rude.

It does seem ambitious and perhaps you are right that it is a foolish risk doomed to failure, but I'm sorry, but these are just generalities, your personal feelings and anecdotal experiences and boiler plate stuff everyone has heard about development. However, they do not always apply to every project. You do not have the data, the forecasts, the projections that the developer has, neither do you have access to the pro-forma that he has surely done. Without specific reasons why this project is a poor idea and backing it up with specific quantitative data that highlights the risk involved, your opinions are just opinions, or perhaps simply fears. You may have good reasons to doubt the feasibility of this project, but they don't tell me anything other than your are basing this on the past. The past trends are not always correct in predicting the future. ;)

[NYguy]

Yes... I am aware, but those developments started with smaller scale highrises. You don't start with a 70 story tower...

Not that it matters, but if you bothered to read, you'd see they aren't. And there's a 42-story tower going up accross the street.

[aquablue]

Journal SQ is the area of the city where people who don't make 80-200k live but work in NYC or Newark and it needs to stay that way... Jersey City is slowly eroding at the hard working class neighborhoods and thats a sad thing....where will those people go... Where already seeing people leaving JSQ for Newark...which is good Newark needs the support...but what happens when even Newark becomes to expensive. This region is way to expensive as a whole , we don't need to price out even more working class areas for honestly no reason other then greed. Theres still tons of undeveloped land in Transit saturated areas better equipped to handled the added traffic , like the backside of Newport , Canal Crossing , Exchange Place & Newport. I'm not anti-Development , I'm not a NIMBY , but lets be reasonable here does JSQ need a massive tower like that? It would stick out as a sore thumb....and burden the community....

That is a socialist or anti free-market stance IMO. This maybe a food hardy risk by the developer or a stroke of genius. However, that is what the free-market is all about, risk and reward. However, I do not agree that we must keep certain areas for certain income levels save some affordable housing/public housing. That would just hinder the flow of change that most cities require to renew themselves. Otherwise cities will stagnate and die. It may be cruel, but otherwise we are not a capitalist society, but a socialist one.

This is just the way the cookie crumbles in this day and age. US cities are becoming more like Latin American cities, where the lower classes are pushed outside the inner core by wealthier citizens. The age of the inner city ghettos is slowly being reversed through pure capitalist processes where location is king over all other factors.

[CCs77]

It seems that this one is breaking ground this very year!!!!!!
They will begin with the shorter tower for now...
Not sure for those huge tax abatments, but still...

35-year tax break proposed for three-tower Journal Square project
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/10/35-year_tax_break_for_three-tower_journal_square_project.html

The $600 million, three-tower residential project that Jersey City believes will transform Journal Square is set to receive a 35-year tax break, in addition to $10 million in bonds issued by a city agency that will pay for infrastructure improvements in the area.


Construction on the $240 million first tower, which will rise 54 stories and include 540 rental units and ground floor retail space, is scheduled to begin by the end of the year. KRE expects to complete it in two years.

“It's going to change, obviously, the entire landscape in Journal Square,” Fulop told The Jersey Journal.

This isn’t the first time a Jersey City mayor has promised a Journal Square renaissance. In 2009, then-Mayor Jerramiah Healy said a twin-tower project on a lot directly across from The Jersey Journal office was imminent, but that property remains empty. Healy has said that project stalled because of the economic downturn.

“The public has seen groundbreakings before that didn't come to fruition,” said Fulop. “People are going to see steel coming out of the ground very, very soon.”

[NYC2ATX]

SHUT YOUR MOUTH!

I'm dying.. :djparty:

[Hypothalamus]

Fantastic news and what a prime location! This is true gentrification. Let Jersey rise! :cool:

[dc_denizen]

This is going to be insanely prominent given Journal Square's hilly location. Great news!

[CCs77]

Although it may seem like a setback, it is more like they want to assure some things related with the Loew's Theatre, because the deal includes a contribution of the developers to that landmark theatre.

Jersey City delays introduction of ordinances for $600 million Journal Square development project

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/10/jersey_city_delays_introduction_of_ordinances_for_600_million_journal_square_development_project.html

Jersey City has delayed introduction of ordinances which would create a 35-year tax abatement and issue a $10 million bond for infrastructure improvements in the area of a proposed $600 million, three-tower residential project that will transform Journal Square.

Tonight the council did adopt an ordinance the city says will revamp and streamline the way it works with filmmakers, making it a "premier destination" for New Jersey film productions and bringing tens of millions of dollars in revenue to local businesses.

“There has been some delay to finalize the ordinance to ensure it was fully prepared for the Local Finance Board,” Jersey City Corporate Council Jeremy Farrell told council members tonight of the three ordinances related the development project which were to have their first reading at tonight’s council meeting.

Farrell said Mayor Steven Fulop’s administration also wants to first “meet with the Friends of the Loew’s Theatre because the ordinance includes a $2.5 million contribution to the (Landmark) Loew’s (Jersey Theatre) which will be held in trust and we are committed to assuring Loew’s management that it will be a first-class place, a world class place.”

The ordinances related to the development are now to be introduced at a special meeting to be held on Oct. 31 at 9 a.m. in the city council chambers on Grove Street.
The deal is the first market-rate project since Fulop implemented a new policy regarding the tax breaks he says will encourage development in areas outside the already lucrative waterfront.

Construction of the $240 million first tower, which will rise 54 stories and include 540 rental units and ground floor retail space is expected to take two years to complete. Farrell assured council members that the project will remain on track for a December groundbreaking.

[chris08876]

This is fantastic. JC has come a long way since the early 90's. :cheers: Not to mention it will complement the river views. What are the heights of all three towers?

[CCs77]

This is fantastic. JC has come a long way since the early 90's. :cheers: Not to mention it will complement the river views. What are the heights of all three towers?

I think they have never released the height of the towers in terms of feet or meters. Looking at the images I am posting bellow, I can count about 75 apparent (I don't know how many actual floors there are, but as in the case of 432 Park, I think it is more useful to use the apparent floor counting) Similar developments along Jersey City's waterfront have a floor height of about 3 meters or 9 to 10 feet. this could be a little higher.
There are other renders that shows more floors, about 85, But I think these are the latest, so assuming 75 apparent floors, each one has to be a least 3,2 meters 7 10,5 feet in order to surpass the 238 meters/ 781 ft Goldman Sachs Tower. I'd say that the tallest tower could be between 240meters/ 787ft (with 3,20 / 10,5 ft floors) to 277 meters / 910ft. (with 3,7 / 12ft floors)

Anyway, it is practically approved

City Council gives tentative OK to tax break for Journal Square towers

http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2013/11/city_council_gives_tentative_o.html


A measure approving a long-term tax break for a proposed three-tower development in Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood was given initial approval by the City Council last week.

The deal would give KRE Group, the developer behind the $600 million project, up to 35 years before it would have to pay conventional taxes on the towers. The measure, which needs one more vote before it is finalized, was passed unanimously at a special Thursday morning council meeting.

Some more pictures of the development

http://imageshack.us/a/img196/1093/j07k.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img692/4721/oeyl.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img20/628/fejb.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img21/7686/q6de.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/984/9s6t.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img13/3360/0fjw.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img23/8804/nh8w.jpghttp://imageshack.us/a/img62/9435/5b1b.jpg


http://imageshack.us/a/img820/4300/wsmy.jpg

[CCs77]

Maybe this one already broke ground? at least according to the president of Kushner Real Estate Group, the developer on an interview on the NYT.
And with respect to the timeline, he said that they expect to build the other two in three and five years, so it seems it is not the 2029 date. and more like 2019-20.
The article is from november 26th.

The 30-Minute Interview
Jonathan C. Kushner

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/realestate/commercial/jonathan-c-kushner.html?_r=2&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1385923163-CgDJO3Dpyapl86WY4RlvOQ

Mr. Kushner, 35, is the president of the Kushner Real Estate Group, which owns and manages more than 12 million square feet of commercial property in the New York area. It is involved in several projects in northern New Jersey.

The company, based in Bridgewater, N.J., is the successor to SK Properties, which his father, Murray Kushner, helped found in 1979.

Q. How is business?

A. It’s great — it’s better than it’s ever been since I started working full time in 1999.

We made a shift in the early 2000s to go from being suburban builders in New Jersey and Pennsylvania to being also urban builders. We’ve built an urban brand and we have about 12 projects in different stages — from Bayonne, Jersey City, West New York, Hoboken and Fort Lee — along the Gold Coast of New Jersey. All of our locations are transit-oriented, where you can walk to mass transit and be in Manhattan.

Q. Most of what you’re doing now is residential.

A. The lion’s share of what we’re doing is residential in focus and rental apartments. Our current holdings consist of about six million square feet of office, warehouse and retail space and roughly 10,000 apartments. In addition to that we have over 7,000 apartments in different phases of design and construction.

Q. Let’s talk about some of these developments.

A. We’re under construction on 18 Park in Jersey City; we’re about 75 percent complete. That’ll be opening in March or April. It’s 550,000 feet and it’s 422 apartments, all rentals, plus 30,000 feet of retail. And at the base of that building we’re building a new Boys and Girls Club.

We just broke ground on Journal Square, a three-phase, 2.4-million-square-foot project. The first phase is a 640,000-square-foot residential tower — 54 floors and 540 rental apartments, next to the train station. The other two phases are probably three and five years out; we’re going to build one rental tower at a time. The second tower is going to be 70 floors and 700 units, and the third tower will be 60 floors and 600 units.

And we’ve also just broken ground this summer in Fort Lee for the Hudson Lights, a one-million-square-foot mixed-use project we’re doing with Tucker Development. It’s 142,000 feet of retail, 276 rental apartments, 470,000 feet of office space, plus 2,000 parking spots. We’ll be delivering Phase 1 24 months from now. The office building will come in the second phase.

We’re in construction drawings on 235 Grand and 101 Grove — 688 rentals in two towers, a 45-story tower and a 10-story tower. That project will have stunning views. We will probably break ground the summer of ’14.

Q. Why the focus on Jersey City?

A. It’s all about transportation. If you live in Jersey City and work downtown or even Midtown South, you get to work quicker from our buildings than if you lived on the Upper East or West Sides and the rents are half.

BTW, Marc Kushner, one of the architects that designed these towers, as well as other projects of KRE Group, is the brother of this guy.

[CCs77]

$666? some satanical priced towers :D


Demolition underway in Jersey City to make room for $666 million residential towers

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/01/major_demolition_underway_on_journal_square_site_of_666_million_residential_towers.html

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/543/n26y.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/f3n26yj)

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/800x600q90/822/8ydt.jpg (https://imageshack.com/i/mu8ydtj)

Major demolition is underway in Journal Square, where several buildings, including two large, five-story, brick buildings are being devoured by demolition machines to make way for a $666 million residential towers project.

The buildings being leveled will transform Pavonia Avenue’s south side from Summit Avenue to McLaughlin Funeral Home a swath of empty lots.
Traffic continues to flow in both directions on Pavonia and only the sidewalk on the south side of the street has been closed to pedestrian traffic.

At 2:50 p.m. buses and cars were passing some 15 feet from the five-story buildings that are partially torn down. Summit Avenue is functioning normally.

The project is to include a 54-story tower with 540 units; a 70-story tower with 700 units; and a 60-story tower with 600 units. The developer is KRE Group, headed by Murray Kushner. Construction of the first tower is to take three years to complete. The final tower is expected to be complete in 2029.

[dc_denizen]

2029???

[supertallchaser]

2029???

3 years from now is 2017 then another 3 is 2020 and then 2023 and add financing it could be 2025 but im sure their going to say 2029 to be safe and not get peoples hopes up it will be built relatively fast

[MolsonExport]

666




Here is wisdom.

[C.]

Hi summersm343, your posts about the Journal Squared development inspired me to register for these forums to comment. I am a fairly recent resident of Jersey City, within walking distance of Journal Square. I take the PATH trains daily form Journal Square to and from work. I haven't been living here a decade, but long enough that I consider myself a proud member of the community.

The other parts of Jersey City and the New York metro area have seen many formerly depressed neighborhoods be revitalized and strengthened, often times with new developments being the catalyst for change. Journal Square was once the center of activity in Jersey City but has seen significant decline over the years. It has significant potential to once again be great since its within 15 minutes of midtown or downtown Manhattan by train and it has good bones and character.

Revitalization of Journal Square has proven to be tricky while most other parts of Jersey City are booming. The economic recovery seems to have passed over Journal Square. There is a need for better supermarkets and the jobs that come with them. There is a need for better housing options, severing a variety of income levels. There is a need for an infusion of investment, both private and public. You mentioned the waterfront on one of your posts. Why should all new investments be limited to the waterfront? Journal Square deserves better than how it has been treated in the past.

Before learning of this development, I always fantasized that some developer would see the potential that this neighborhood has and just declare all out war against timid city officials and unvisionary politicos to put a high density tower of 60 storeys or so to kick start revitalization of the Square.

You cannot begin to imagine my surprise when I found out that not only was there already plans for a 60 storey tower but there will be three of them! An even bigger surprise wa that city staff and elected officials, especially Mayor Fulop and the majority of Jersey City council, have been strong supporters of this development towards the overall revitalization of Journal Square. They too understand the need and the only way to succeed was to go large. There are several other developments nearby waiting to break ground, probably looking towards the outcome of Journal Squared before they begin.

There is only one ward councilman that has been vocally against this development, which just so happens to be the one for my ward. I wrote a letter to his office expressing my displeasure with his stance, and I most certainly will not be voting for him in the next election.

Demolition is currently underway, and I'll be happy watching these towers rise and the positive impacts it will bring to the neighborhood. I'm tempted to start a blog to document the changes.

Lastly, I am just very thankful that Jersey City leaders do not think like you.




Sooooooo residents of Jersey City are actually telling me that they think this development is appropriate for the area? I think it is EXTREMELY out of scale and out of touch with the neighborhood. It's just the developer shooting for an extreme return on investment. 70 stories?! Most of the buildings in this area are 2 or 3 floors. There are very few highrises let alone midrises in the area.

This development should be along the waterfront and on this site should be maybe a 300 or 400 foot tower. MUCH more appropriate for the area. This is just completely ridiculous looking

Good city planning is building to critical mass, than building up... not building a 70 story tower when the area is not built to critical mass... IMO I think this will saturate the market for a few years and Phase 2 and 3 will never get built.

This is just as farfetched as the Atlantic Yards in Brooklyn by Forest City Ratner.

If this development was on the waterfront I'd be all for it... but here?! Crazy I tell ya :yes:

[NYguy]

http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=7102

Jersey More
Two high-rise residential projects in Jersey City set to absorb New York City overflow around transit hubs.


http://archpaper.com/uploads/30-jersey-city-development-archpaper(2).jpg

The two developments are being built within walking distance to the Exchange Place and Journal Square PATH Stations



http://archpaper.com/uploads/01-jersey-city-development-archpaper(2).jpg


Sited on the west bank of the Hudson River, Jersey City is connected to Manhattan by a web of transit lines that are making it an increasingly desirable location for new residents priced out of New York City. Developers have taken note of this trend, as evidenced by a pair of high-rise residential complexes that recently broke ground in the satellite city. When complete, the two projects—one designed by HWKN with Handel Architects, the other by Dutch firm Concrete—will be among the tallest buildings in New Jersey.

“As Brooklyn becomes more and more inconvenient due to affordability and transportation, people are warming up to New Jersey’s convenience,” said Matthias Hollwich, partner at HWKN. He noted that many of the amenities that draw people to Brooklyn already exist in Jersey City, from a vibrant dining scene to tech incubation hubs. “It’s really unknown to many people.” His firm is building a triad of towers at Journal Square, the tallest of which is 74 floors and 740 feet. “I was really amazed at the accessibility that’s completely underutilized,” he continued. “It’s only 10 minutes to the World Trade Center and 15 to Midtown Manhattan.”

HWKN broke ground at their so-called Journal Squared, or J2, project last November, according to developer Jonathan Kushner, brother of HWKN principal Marc Kushner. The 2.4 million-square-foot plan groups three towers around a PATH station that handles 5 million train passengers annually. The first tower will top out at 54 floors and features a pixelated facade of square windows accented by a dynamic lighting scheme. Hollwich declined to discuss design specifics of the project, but initial concepts call for a series of landscaped roof terraces with sweeping views of the Manhattan skyline.

“We took special care in the crafting of urban qualities so not to abuse what’s already there,” said Hollwich, emphasizing that the project is a prime example of a transit-oriented development. “You can reduce the parking because its been demonstrated that you need less around transit,” he said. “Now we have a maximum of .5 cars per apartment, but it potentially could be zero, and that’s a good thing.” Jonathan Kushner told the New York Times the future phases of the project would likely take several more years.

Down the tracks toward Manhattan, developers Mack-Cali Realty Corporation and Ironstate Development just broke ground on the first of three more towers grouped around the Exchange Place PATH Station. Concrete designed the three towers as a series of stacked glass boxes rising from parking podia covered in pixelated metal and wood screens. Occupiable landscaped roofs linked by pedestrian bridges connect the overall site. Standing 713 feet tall with 69 floors, the new tower, called URL Harborside, or Urban-Ready Living Harborside, takes the state’s second tallest title behind Cesar Pelli’s 42-story, 781-foot-tall 30 Hudson Street.

“We believe there is strong demand for a live-work-play environment that offers a true sense of community—all in an amenity-rich, transit-oriented location,” said Mitchell Hersh, Mack-Cali president and CEO, in a statement. Each of the planned 763 residences is designed to be energy-efficient with innovative layouts and communal amenities that appeal to flexible, urban lifestyles. When complete, the entire project will contain more than 2,300 units and retail space. The first phase of URL Harborside is expected to be complete in 2016.

[NYguy]

http://nypost.com/2014/03/05/jersey-city-is-reaching-for-the-sky/

Jersey City is reaching for the sky


By Adam Bonislawski
March 5, 2014


The sky’s the limit for Jersey City’s Journal Square neighborhood. Literally.

Situated in the western half of Jersey City, three PATH train stops from Lower Manhattan, Journal Square was once one of city’s most prosperous quarters. The area, though, has largely missed out on the waves of development that have, over the last few decades, transformed the Jersey City waterfront aalong with the downtown stretches around the Grove Street PATH stop.

Seeking to remedy this, the city government has, in recent years, passed a number of initiatives to drive development. First came a 2010 rezoning plan eliminating height density restrictions in certain portions of the neighborhood. Then, upon winning office last May, Mayor Steven Fulop changed the city’s tax-abatement program.

The mayor’s new scheme aims to incentivize developers to locate their projects within key inland spots like Journal Square — which sits one PATH stop from downtown Jersey City and two from the waterfront. Under the new rules, downtown and waterfront developments are eligible, at most, for 10-year abatements. A Journal Square project, on the other hand, can snag up to 30 years of tax abatements.

“We wanted to incentivize people to move more into the inner portions of the city, and Journal Square seemed like a natural place to focus on,” Fulop says. “It was the former center of the city, the heart of the city. It has great bones, mass transportation. The PATH system is right there, there’s a major bus terminal right there. So it really has all the components.”

...Among the most prominent is Journal Squared, a 2.4-million-square-foot mixed-use residential and retail project under development by the New Jersey-based KRE Group. Adjacent to the Journal Square Transportation Center, the complex — upon completion — will house 1,840 rental apartments spread across three towers of 54, 60 and 74 stories. The first tower is slated to open in late 2016 and will feature 540 rental units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms.

Like much of the rest of Jersey City’s appeal, KRE’s main interest in the site is “based on the incredible transportation,” says Jonathan Kushner, the firm’s president, noting that roughly 30,000 PATH riders and 1,200 buses pass through every day. “From that station, you can go direct to downtown [Manhattan], direct to Midtown,” he says. “You can connect at Newark to Amtrak. You can go right to the Newark Airport.”

[C.]

They need to go taller! :)

As a resident of Jersey City, I want 100 at Journal Square.

[Perklol]

delete

[Hypothalamus]

New York YIMBY:

Construction Update: Journal Squared (http://www.yimbynews.com/2014/03/construction-update-journal-squared.html)
BY: NIKOLAI FEDAK ON MARCH 6TH 2014 AT 12:00 PM

Jersey City entering a new development boom, and one of the largest projects underway is ‘Journal Squared,’ which promises to help revitalize the Journal Square neighborhood. The project’s architects are HWKN and Handel, and Kushner Real Estate is developing the site.

As the construction photos show, demolition on whatever used to exist is now complete, and excavation for the new towers is imminent; the trio of buildings will completely dominate the Journal Square skyline, which currently has no skyscrapers. The neighborhood is removed from the main cluster of waterfront high-rises in Jersey City, but it enjoys transit accessibility that compares with the city’s Downtown node.
....

Phase I of Journal Squared will result in a 54-story building; the other two towers will stand 60 and 70 floors, with full build-out likely before 2020. Ground-breaking was expected this past December, but there does not appear to be any excavation equipment on-site; nevertheless, the site is clear, and activity appears to be imminent.

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/jsquared2.jpg

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/jsquared3.jpg

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/jsquared1.jpg

[NYguy]

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/real-estate/new-jersey-hudson-article-1.1713502

From drab to fab, Jersey City's alluring architecture is making "Chilltown" hot
Condos, townhouses and other projects along the harborfront and in the interior boost city's presence


http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1713490!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_635/jc7bp-40-web.jpg


By Matt Chaban
March 7, 2014


A ride on the PATH train to Newport, in Jersey City, only takes about three minutes from Manhattan. But mount the stairs to the street and you could be forgiven for thinking you’re in Stamford, Conn.

Drab, almost hostile, boxes of glass and concrete loom over a six-lane boulevard, where Jersey drivers speed along on their way to the nearby Holland Tunnel. Instead of storefronts, the bases of most towers are encased by imposing multistory parking garages.

It’s the urban equivalent of the black knight standing guard, bellowing: “None shall pass.”

But hop the light rail and take it five stops south toward the Morris Canal — ignoring other ill-conceived developments of the past two decades (including the Trump Plaza, the state’s tallest residences, which opened in 2008) — and arrive at Liberty Harbor.

Cute throwback townhouses in a hodgepodge of styles recall Main St. at Disney World. Behind them rise modern lofts and attractive apartment buildings, complete with the hallmarks of the Jane Jacobs-Park Slope playbook: a cafe, a bistro, a German-style beer hall.

It’s all less than a decade old, but still has the look of the brownstone, tree-lined streets just across Grand Ave. that have attracted more and more folks from across the river (sometimes two rivers) to call the 07302 zip code home.

“Growing up, Jersey City was a place you passed through on the way to Manhattan,” says Marc Kushner, an architect raised in suburban Livingston. “It was never the destination, and I think a lot of the older buildings reflect that.”

As Jersey City has cast off its stigma as a back-office-and-apartment haven of cheap rents and cheaper-looking buildings, more and more professionals and families are calling “Chilltown” and “JC” home. They’re ditching the suburbs of their parents, but also the stratospheric prices and stuffy attitudes of Manhattan and, increasingly, Brooklyn.

As the so-called sixth borough has finally become a destination in its own right, developers are getting hip to the need for cutting-edge buildings to suit newcomers’ demanding tastes.

.....at the mouth of the Grove St. PATH station, Ironstate and Panepinto Properties are pushing the luxury concept even further with a pair of 50-story towers with more than 1,000 apartments.

They are designed by Gwathmey Siegel, the renowned Manhattan firm famous for sumptuous apartments and East End homes. The designers also created the W Hoboken for Ironstate, and here they replicate their clean, modern luxury in these ivory-looking towers.

No one is more excited about this transformation than the new mayor, Steven Fulop, who took office last summer. “We want to see the Jersey City skyline continue to evolve and to differentiate itself from those across the river, which frankly can be a little boring at times,” Fulop says.

.....And in one of the biggest developments in the city’s history, literally and figuratively, Ironstate and Mack Cali are building a trio of Jenga-like towers on the waterfront. At 69 stories and with thousands of units, they not only will transform the city’s skyline, but the way people live in Jersey City.

But perhaps the most exciting project of all isn’t even taking place in the current hub — and hubbub — of downtown. It’s a PATH stop further out, in the still-rough part of town surrounding Journal Square.

There, HWKN has created a group of towers for Kushner’s brother Jonathan (both are scions of the well-known Kushner real estate empire started by their grandfather) that will soar more than 70 stories over the Palisades plateau. It is part of the mayor’s drive to push development beyond downtown to less-developed areas of New Jersey’s second-largest city.

“We’re trying to put Jersey City on the map, and I think we’ve planted a pretty big flag,” Kushner says.

[C.]

Not sure if this angle has been posted yet:

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/journalsquare1.jpg


A little MS Word is my approximation of the towers and plaza space.

http://i.imgur.com/X2DgZMc.jpg

Rendering taken from an older but insightful article (http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/2012/08/07/new-development-planned-for-journal-square-would-include-the-citys-tallest-tower-fundamentally-change-the-neighborhood/).
But unlike Grove Pointe’s plaza, which was meant to help promote a public square for what the area was already known for, Persky describes J2′s construction as creating a new, “self-contained” neighborhood, though much of it will be open to the public. There will also be a private fitness center, spa and swimming pool.

The plan does call for some open-space – or “people space,” as Persky calls it, before describing a starkly different Journal Square. There will be a dog run, outdoor seating envisioned as a place for barbecuing or just sitting outside reading and relaxing in the sun. Some of this space will be on top of the “super lobby” that will conjoin all three skyscrapers, with new restaurants and retail all around the development. After this development, night life will follow, says Persky.

“It will have everything you want in the complex,” he adds. “This is going to be a place. It will be a residential center unparalleled in the city.”

But if residents are concerned of what this will do the neighborhood, aesthetically, financially and culturally – and they are – the argument that the buildings don’t fit in won’t hold for long. That’s because KRE isn’t alone, and when they open the dam a torrent of high-rises is expected.

After all, MEPT is reportedly close to finding a partner to work with for their two towers – 1.24 million square feet spread out over 1,500 units, with 150,000 square-feet of retail space – and Robinhood Plaza receiving a zoning change at their property next to the Summit House that will permit them to build a 42-story building. There are also other areas that are currently parking lots within the “core” of the Journal Square Redevelopment plan that are already zoned without height limitation. It’s just a matter of time and economic wherewithal before someone snatches them up. Then there is talk of an unnamed developer approaching property owners on Magnolia Avenue looking to buy up land.

What was long dormant might soon awaken to years and years of construction, and what will emerge will look even less like Journal Square now than what Grove Street looked like 10 years ago.

But so far it’s just been a lot of talk and huge promise of change, and some residents around Journal Square have reacted to the talk with both guarded interest and trepidation. But they’re definitely talking.

[Surrealplaces]

I hope all three get built. Jersey city's on a nice little roll.

[Urbannizer]

A different design proposal? Ignore that Canada is given as the location.

http://www.humphreys.com/portfolio/boards-6/

http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2773/13092611393_dde4aa8842_b.jpg

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3462/13092777774_b05045532e_b.jpg

[C.]

Humphreys isn't one for details apparently

ON THE BOARDS
CANADA

Two 60-Foot Towers
697 Square Foot
Average Unit Size

60 foot is about what.. 6 floors?

[C.]

I believe that's a stalled development planned for another area of Journal Square. When the first Journal Squared tower is built and leased it, that will probably inspire other developers in the area to proceed with their proposals. This is another version I could find.

http://www.thenewjournalsquare.com/html/press/images/clip_image001.jpg

The site in question: https://www.google.com/maps/@40.730704,-74.063377,3a,75y,314.98h,94.4t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sN0ljEGwqonYPgMwScIXGpg!2e0

[Crawford]

A different design proposal? Ignore that Canada is given as the location.

This is another Journal Square project, by a different developer.

I think we have a SSP thread for it, somewhere.

[Hypothalamus]

So do we have a thread for that site? I couldn't find one. I think City Center Towers, One Journal Square, 96 Sip Avenue, are all names/addresses of that same development. NY YIMBY also wrote up a nice article on the stalled project today. I could see this getting restarted.

http://www.yimbynews.com/2014/03/revealed-city-center-towers.html

[NYguy]

^ There was an older thread for that development, which was originally the most anticipated of the Journal Square developments.

And I love, love, love all of this development around Journal Square, which has excellent transportation both to lower and midtown Manhattan, as well as Penn Station in Newark and Newark Airport.



http://gizmodo.com/this-icy-blue-tower-will-be-new-jerseys-tallest-reside-1546513025

This Icy Blue Tower Will Be New Jersey's Tallest Residential Building


http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-xlarge2/pmejvwttsjhfjp6gnelj.jpg



New Jersey has plenty of tall buildings, to be sure, but it's not known for its skyscrapers. A new development planned for Jersey City hopes to change all that with a bright blue set of towers that will boost the city's skyline.

Located in the Journal Square neighborhood of Jersey City, the 1,840 unit-development will be called Journal Squared (although, shouldn't it really be Journal Cubed?) and hopes to attract young professionals who can easily get to work in Manhattan using the adjacent PATH station.

The complex is designed by HWKN and Handel Architects and will feature three towers, one of which will top out at about 729 feet, making it the tallest residential building in New Jersey (the press release says it will be the tallest, but Cesar Pelli's 30 Hudson Street in Jersey City will remain the tallest at 780 feet). Bruce Mau Design did the identity and wayfinding.

According to the designers, the buildings will serve as both a gateway to the state and as a new urban center for the city. "We designed a building that works equally well at the scale of the Turnpike, where hundreds of thousands of people will see it every day, and at the scale of the human who walks and lives in the city," says HWKN partner Marc Kushner. It should be complete by 2016.

Of course you can see plenty of New Jersey's buildings from Manhattan, but this one seems like it was both designed to stand out and combat the gritty, industrial vibe that dominates the lands just across the Hudson. The use of blue—and that sure it a lot of blue!—seems to communicate a freshness while hoping to remind New York City that, hey, New Jersey is RIGHT OVER HERE.


http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-xlarge2/vygnibgdmhrs0znwybbv.jpg



http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-xlarge2/sld8i2iqwsapf28vng50.jpg



http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/t_ku-xlarge2/alf8gswuphacjxbmalwh.jpg

[C.]

An excellent opinion piece just appeared on nj.com

It nails why these towers are so important to the development on Jersey City.

http://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/03/opinion_responsible_development_is_good_for_jersey_city.html

By JEFF KAPLOWITZ
GUEST COLUMNIST

As a lifelong resident of Jersey City and a commercial real estate broker for 27 years, I would like to offer a different perspective on Mr. Malone's Jan. 27 editorial in The Jersey Journal.

From 1994 to 2002, I was a commissioner on the city Planning Board. During that time we voted on many redevelopment plans and development applications and revisited the master plan and zoning ordinances. The city planning staff, in my opinion, is by far the best and most dedicated in New Jersey. Most redevelopment plans and applications are vetted through many meetings with developers and stakeholders with the goal of following the master plan not just for today, but into the future. It is true that there has never been 100 percent agreement, but the process is open.

Journal Square started its growth as a transportation center in 1912 and grew to be Jersey City's business, entertainment and governmental center in the 1920s and maintained its position of power and glory into the 1960s. Since then it has declined, and today the surrounding area consists of commuter parking lots and 99-cent, discount liquor, fast food and phone stores. Every mayor over the past 40 years has tried to rejuvenate the Square, without success.

Over the last decade, I have participated in many planning and public community meetings where the goal was to redevelop the area. The process has been long, but what has finally emerged, in my opinion, is not only good for Journal Square but for Jersey City.

BUILDERS FOLLOW MASS TRANSIT

The market trend today and for the foreseeable future is that people want to live in cities again. One of the reasons for this is that all amenities are within walking distance. But how do you create that in an area that is old and mostly built out from the 19th and 20th centuries? Most urban planners will say that you build where your highest density of residential and commercial development is within a quarter-mile of a mass transit hub because people can maximize public transit, and as you go further out you have progressively lower density development, which creates the appropriate scale for residents and pedestrians.

In Jersey City we have one of the best mass transit systems with PATH, bus, ferry and light rail, and that is where the city has planned its most aggressive development, along those hubs. In Journal Square, the core of the highest density is around the PATH terminal, with all the surrounding areas limited to development between two to 10 stories.

TAX ABATEMENT POLICIES

As a member of Mayor Fulop's real estate transition committee, we looked at and made recommendations for tax abatement policies. The new policies are directed to areas that need incentives to grow, such as Journal Square, Bergen/Lafayette and Greenville, and were drastically reduced Downtown where the market is now sustainable without incentives.

As a commercial real estate broker, it has been difficult over the years to convince investors and developers to look at Journal Square because it just did not make economic sense.

The question is why should government give tax incentives? The answer is that incentives to developers will give them a profitable project on which they will spend more of their own money to build, creating temporary jobs for construction workers who will spend their money with local businesses, which in turn creates local jobs. In the long run, people who live and work in these new buildings will spend their money in the surrounding neighborhood. This creates opportunities for small businesses to open and thereby creates new permanent jobs. This is called the economic multiplier effect, where for every dollar invested a multiple amount is generated in the local economy.

FUNDING HOUSING

In the past our local government has required money for affordable housing, but instead of creating the housing Downtown where the incentives were given, they were put into the Bergen/Lafayette and Greenville sections of Jersey City. It created unbalanced neighborhoods with no amenities, no jobs, low performing schools and no opportunities. This policy has led to a sense of hopelessness and a high level of drug and gang crime activity. It will take the attention and resources of the Fulop administration, with the help of the stakeholders from these neighborhoods, to make a positive change.

The Fulop administration has taken the first step by changing the tax abatement policy to create a more balanced approach to affordable housing. If you get a tax incentive, you must pay for or create affordable housing in the ward where you will develop.

The function of local government is to deliver services to its residents, to create safe, successful and sustainable neighborhoods. Government must pay for these services, and the only way to raise the money is through real estate development, which will attract new businesses and new residents. There is no reason why longtime residents should feel that they will be displaced if a balance can be achieved. I believe that Mayor Fulop's approach to development is the right choice for Jersey City.

[Hypothalamus]

Posted April 13th, 2014...
Photo Credit: tbal (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3795&p=445320&viewfull=1#post445320) at WNY

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/DSCF1746_zpsc45ba061.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/DSCF1747_zps0ac8c009.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/DSCF1748_zpsdff0500a.jpg

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g245/jcwalkingman/Jersey%20City%20Construction/DSCF1750_zpsf9121b5d.jpg
©tbal

...McLaughlin Funeral Home still to be demolished

[C.]

I found an old rendering of Journal Squared!

http://www.thekregroup.com/brochure/kreBrochure.pdf

Look on page 14

[Pete8680]

J city needs this!

[chris08876]

It does. :cheers:

Expect more of this too. The NYC boom is strong in the City's unofficial 6th borough.

[chris08876]

Groundbreaking: Journal Squared :cheers:

First Phase:

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Journal-Squared-4.jpg

Full Project:

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Journal-Squared-5.jpg

While the development industry’s attention has been chiefly focused on Manhattan and Brooklyn, the real estate boom in Jersey City is just getting started. And now, it is finally extending to Journal Square; this morning, ground will be broken on Journal Squared, which will become the neighborhood’s first project to make a mark on the regional skyline.

A fresh set of renderings came attached to the news, illustrating the phasing of the project, and the eventual impact of the three-towered plan. The first building to rise will stand 53 stories tall, and contain 538 units; subsequent towers will be even larger and taller, standing up to 70 stories tall. At the street level, the skyscrapers will be rounded out by a retail base that promises to further jump-start Journal Square’s revitalization.

Integrating attractive and pedestrian-friendly retail will be crucial to Journal Square’s evolution and success, and with the number of projects in the pipeline, critical mass for sustained momentum should not be difficult to achieve. Besides the first Journal Squared tower, progress is also imminent at 30 Journal Square, City Center Towers, and HAP’s 500 Summit Avenue – in addition to a host of smaller mid-rise buildings.

Given the density of expected new development — with all major sites within a short walk of the PATH station — the neighborhood will likely see the most dramatic transformation of any in the New York region over the course of the next decade. By 2025, there could be five 50+ story buildings, a statistic that surpasses the current skylines of both Brooklyn and Queens.

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Journal-Squared-3.jpg
http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Journal-Squared-1.jpg

Kushner Real Estate Group is developing Journal Squared, and HWKN and Handel are the project’s architects. Completion of the first phase is expected in early 2016, and the eventual build-out will total 2.3 million square feet.

http://www.yimbynews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Journal-Squared-2.jpg
===================================
http://www.yimbynews.com/2014/10/groundbreaking-journal-squared.html

[chris08876]

Current Site:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yccXVD7pYqU/VDW1dk2b1uI/AAAAAAAAEgM/jcEqhaKi5tg/s1600/SAM_8203.JPG
Credit: http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3795&page=304&p=450848&viewfull=1#post450848

[NYguy]

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/10/groundbreaking_held_for_jersey_citys_massive_three-tower_residential_development.html

Developer breaks ground on 'Journal Squared,' tallest residential building in state


http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-c94fec807b33d263.JPG

By Jonathan Lin
October 21, 2014


Game changer. Transformative. Incredible.

These were just some of the words used by Jersey City officials and developer KRE Group at the groundbreaking ceremony this morning for "Journal Squared," a massive, three-tower project at the heart of the city which, upon completion, will boast the tallest residential building in New Jersey.

"This project which we're undertaking today is truly a transformative project -- transformative for this wonderful city of Jersey City, and for the state of New Jersey," said Murray Kushner, KRE Group chairman, before a gathering of about 100 people. "The design, the scale, the scope of this project, and the importance of this project to restoring the historical significance of Journal Square are self-evident."

The project, which is located between Magnolia, Pavonia, and Summit Avenues, just east of the Port Authority transportation hub, will include a 54-story tower with 538 units; a 70-story tower with 700 units; and a 60-story tower with 600 units. The project received a 30-year tax abatement from the city last November.

Once completed, the 70-story tower is expected to be the tallest residential building in New Jersey, according to Hollwich Kushner's website, surpassing the 55-story Trump Tower Residences in Downtown Jersey City, which opened in 2008.

"We have made it a priority to get actual buildings going up in Journal Square," Fulop told The Jersey Journal shortly afterward. "This is the first one coming out in decades. It's a big day for Journal Square. It's a game changer, and I couldn't be more excited about it."

When he spoke, Kanne talked about the jobs that the massive project will generate.

"We're also proud that this new development will generate much-needed jobs for the people of New Jersey," he said. "We believe this project will spark a renaissance in the Journal Square neighborhood similar to what downtown Jersey City has already experienced, with increased economic activity and numerous new employment opportunities benefiting not only new residents, but the community as a whole."

The development's phase I tower, the 53-story tower, is expected to be complete by 2016, while the second phase, the 70-story tower, will be finished five years after the first tower is built, Jonathan Kushner previously told The Jersey Journal.

Journal Squared will comprise a total of 1,838 rental residences and 36,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, according to a press release.

The project will also bring in a new pedestrian-friendly public plaza, at the heart of which will be an open space courtyard lined with trees, greenery and seating to encourage social interaction, the release stated.

The 53-story tower currently under construction will offer 538 studios as well as one-, two-, and three-bedroom rentals with upscale finishes and appointments, plus "stunning views" of the Hudson River, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and downtown Manhattan, according to the release.

Residents of the tower will have access to over 10,000 square feet of amenities in the building, including the entire eighth floor, the release stated. Those amenities will include an outdoor swimming pool, full-service fitness center, golf simulator and a children's playroom. A 2,000 square-foot space on the 53rd floor will also serve as an entertainment space.


http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-0cb78e46f0e52b3b.JPG



http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-04d534f6c3413600.JPG



http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-2ff04991a9af66f7.JPG



http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-e1272d2da94dd8e1.JPG



http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-b56eecaced3a53a9.JPG



http://imgick.nj.com/home/njo-media/pgmain/img/jersey-journal/photo/2014/10/21/-158c6c67f11fc35e.JPG

[C.]

Bravo.

The tallest was originally planned for 80 floors. I hope the developers lease out the upper floors first to show the development world that there is great demand for highrise living in Jersey City.

[chris08876]

http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/383/assets/11C5_kre.jpg
http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/383/assets/11C5_kre.jpg

[C.]

Any ideas when we might see a crane?

[aquablue]

Looks Bauhaus in style. I think this would fit in in Berlin or somewhere.

[Busy Bee]

I think this will fit in just fine in Jersey City thank you very much.

[chris08876]

https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8130/15598123928_46ec98c92e_b.jpg
Credit: Local1256; https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcm_m/15598123928/

[aquablue]

I think this will fit in just fine in Jersey City thank you very much.

LOL. Way to get all testy. I was mentioning that the tower reminds me of various styles you see in Berlin, with those white columns and a modern take on bauhaus styles that originated in Germany. Sure, it will look good in Jersey, but it will be a new style for the most part. Nothing else looks like it right now.

[toxteth o'grady]

Looks Bauhaus in style. I think this would fit in in Berlin or somewhere.

Or Houston - Downtown or Uptown.:yes:

[C.]

When to move this one to under construction? :tup:

Foundation is being laid.

[summersm343]

I'll move to Under Construction.

I am going to make this thread just for Phase 1. It will be 53 floors correct? What is the height?

Since Phase 2 will not be built for 5 more years, we will create a second thread for that when it happens.

:tup:

[chris08876]

First tower is 54 floors and 544 feet. The NJ.com article is in error by 1 floor.

Phase 2 and 3 will include the 633 and 728 foot tower.

[summersm343]

First tower is 54 floors and 544 feet. The NJ.com article is in error by 1 floor.

Phase 2 and 3 will include the 633 and 728 foot tower.

Alright thanks! All set!

Created a separate thread for phase 2 & 3.

[Hamilton]

The Art House building has been closed, vacated, and fenced off in anticipation of demolition. Demo is supposed to take place sometime in the next month:
htt
https://cdn-standard.discourse.org/uploads/yimby/original/2X/7/723719fdea21433f091e4389ec0e3980f7d40797.jpg

[chris08876]

Great news. Looks like phase 2 will start a lot sooner.

Hopefully the same with urban ready living. If all set and done, a late summer foundation work would be great.

[chris08876]

Demo should start soon. Didn't spot anything worthwhile today. Pic by me.

https://cdn-standard.discourse.org/uploads/yimby/original/2X/f/f0a9b2531c2ab0d1d4449ae9914321bdebbc63db.jpg

[Hamilton]

Demo has begun.

https://cdn-business2.discourse.org/uploads/yimby/original/3X/b/7/b793cc3eff93eee0fa94f7a31c4602a8f23d72fb.jpg

https://cdn-business2.discourse.org/uploads/yimby/original/3X/3/c/3c4781a8098880d066c8a291b82b3a61b105444f.jpg

[Crawford]

Is Phase 2 the 633 ft. tower or the 728 ft. tower? In any case, good news.

[Hamilton]

Is Phase 2 the 633 ft. tower or the 728 ft. tower? In any case, good news.
It's the 728-foot tower (70 stories, 700 apartments)

[citybooster]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the revised height 759 ft, on 71 or 72 stories? CIA has mentioned this previously I believe regarding the most recent FAA approval.

[Hamilton]

If I'm not mistaken, isn't the revised height 759 ft, on 71 or 72 stories? CIA has mentioned this previously I believe regarding the most recent FAA approval.

Good point! 759 feet, 72 stories:

https://oeaaa.faa.gov/oeaaa/external/searchAction.jsp?action=displayOECase&oeCaseID=321999932&row=4

So this thread should first of all be split into phases 2 and 3. And the height and floor count for phase 2 need to be changed. And the name of the project is Journal Squared, not Journal Square. So the title should be:

JERSEY CITY | Journal Squared Phase 2 | 759 FT | 72 FLOORS

[chris08876]

Demolition Underway at Second ‘Journal Squared’ Site :cheers:

https://28nwgk2wx3p52fe6o9419sg5-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/journal-squared-jersey-city-phase-2-demolition-3.jpg

Just over three years ago, KRE Group was in the process of demolishing a small house and parking lot at 615 Pavonia Avenue to prepare for construction of a 538-unit tower. That building, the first phase of their ambitious Journal Squared development, now soars 53 stories and is a landmark in the neighborhood.

Today, an old office building that formerly housed Verizon offices and Art House Productions is currently being torn down to make way for Journal Squared’s second phase. Crews at the cement building, which fronts Summit and Magnolia Avenues, have torn out the rear of the building and are in the process of taking out windows at the property, which will vanish before our eyes in just a matter of weeks.

Journal Squared, which will total 1,838 residential units and 36,000 square feet of retail when completed, is being built in three total phases. :cheers: The upcoming second tower will be the tallest of the trio, rising 70 stories and 759 feet. It is slated to include about 700 more rental units.
======================
https://jerseydigs.com/demolition-underway-second-journal-squared-tower/

[Submariner]

Are these towers in the JC diagram?

[chris08876]

Are these towers in the JC diagram?

Listed on the data base floor/height wise but no diagram. JC doesn't really have any diagrams besides 99 Hudson.

[C.]

So the Art House Production building has been completely demolished. It's a site to be seen. I have pics, but can anyone recommend a phone app for http://www.imgur.com that can crop and edit photos? Whenever I upload straight from my phone it's always some ridiculously huge size.

[Hamilton]

^^^ don't know. But if you can, go up to the top of the Port Authority parking garage and take in the view from up there sometime. Here's a few pics of that I took a couple of weeks ago. The view is even more panoramic now that the Art House building is totally gone:

https://cdn-business2.discourse.org/uploads/yimby/original/3X/8/b/8bd592f009dfc3ec108627563b9dbf846e38d6c9.jpg

[chris08876]

Pic by me. Just of the original tower. Taken today.

To think we still have more to go. Tallest one being in Phase II.

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4650/39095143165_ea5c02ac6b_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/22yGQ1v)
JSQ Phase 1 C.Estevez (https://flic.kr/p/22yGQ1v) by Christopher Estevez (https://www.flickr.com/photos/138198804@N03/), on Flickr

[chris08876]

Journal Squared’s Next 72-Story Tower Breaks Ground In Journal Square, Jersey City

https://newyorkyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Journal-Squared-1024x576.jpg

Designed by HWKN/Hollwich Kushner and Handel Architects, it will stand 72 floors and 759 feet to its rooftop.

Those measurements are impressive, but it will still fall a few dozen feet short of the state’s current tallest, at 30 Hudson Street. The relatively prominent elevation of Journal Square will ensure it punches quite a bit above its weight, with the 90′ base height giving the tower a visual boost. At 849′ to tip relative to the waterfront, that will make it the second-most prominent in the city upon completion, behind the 900-foot 99 Hudson Street (also lacking elevation, located adjacent to the Hudson River).

The first tower of Journal Squared has 54 floors and 538 apartments, and the second phase will add about 600 units, though the exact number has not yet been confirmed. The entirety of the site will wind up with 1,840 rentals by the time the third tower is completed, and that part of the plan is currently expected to stand about 60 floors in height.

Completion of the second phase is likely by the end of 2020, and Kushner Real Estate Development is the site’s developer. The towering triplets will eventually be joined by another set of twin buildings dubbed One Journal Square, by Kushner Companies, just a short walk away, which also recently saw a redesign approved by the city. :cheers:
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NYY (https://newyorkyimby.com/2017/10/journal-squareds-next-72-story-tower-breaks-ground-in-journal-square-jersey-city.html)

[chris08876]

https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/business5/uploads/yimby/original/3X/5/c/5cb6746264856a425f4ccc843e5ffd826b072978.jpg
Credit: apophenic (https://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/51?u=chris08876)

[The Best Forumer]

So far so good... good shots.

[chris08876]

https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/business5/uploads/yimby/original/3X/5/b/5b13989ff00f868886b4b794ab0ff8bd8ff80bc1.jpg
Credit: JC_Heights (http://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/65?u=chris08876)

[C.]

The County administrative building/court house really looks like trash.

[towerpower123]

The County administrative building/court house really looks like trash.

There is a long term plan to either demolish it and replace it or to renovate its facade and build on the parking lot it front of it.

[chris08876]

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/857/42949924195_dcab2399e4_z.jpg
Credit: lammius (http://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/68?u=chris08876)

[jc_resident]

Question for people who know more about construction - it's only a two months since they only had a hole in the ground but there are some concrete structures there. Is this the beginning of the foundation? How long until we see few floors above ground?

[shakman]

Question for people who know more about construction - it's only a two months since they only had a hole in the ground but there are some concrete structures there. Is this the beginning of the foundation? How long until we see few floors above ground?

Pics would be nice so I can give you an accurate answer.

[jc_resident]

Here is how it looks today. What's the forecast? :)

sorry for huge image size :( https://imgur.com/a/LxDB1iI

https://i.imgur.com/bRBjrmV.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1AWjOX2.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/h1LGseZ.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uqR8bZ7.jpg

[jc_resident]

That's really close to the existing tower, is this only the foundation for the between towers section not really anything for the second tower?

[shakman]

I'm getting a site cannot be reached error when trying to open the link.

[chris08876]

This will be a 3rd tallest for JC and thus, 3rd tallest for NJ. Impact wise, it will be profound due to the elevation of this neighborhood. Will even be more dominant than 30 Hudson Street which is only 22 ft taller.

[jc_resident]

I'm getting a site cannot be reached error when trying to open the link.
Does https://imgur.com/a/LxDB1iI work for anyone? Anyone can see few pictures two posts above?

shakman can you try again maybe using another device?

[chris08876]

Does https://imgur.com/a/LxDB1iI work for anyone? Anyone can see few pictures two posts above?

shakman can you try again maybe using another device?

I can see it perfectly. Using Chrome.

For Internet Explorer, the browser is sometimes annyoing and you'll have to click "enable all content" in your settings to see everything. Images/videos for example.

[chris08876]

Question for people who know more about construction - it's only a two months since they only had a hole in the ground but there are some concrete structures there. Is this the beginning of the foundation? How long until we see few floors above ground?

They are working on the foundation. You can see the foundation rebar (vertical). Concrete would be poured, along with horizontal and various layers of support rebar/slab areas.

Support walls being placed as well. Still has some work as the foundation is not complete.

I'd estimate 4-5 months until some serious action within the whole parcel based on current status. I haven't seen any official timetables so IDK but just an estimate. As with official timetables, take them with a grain of salt. They can change dramatically.

[chris08876]

https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/business5/uploads/yimby/original/3X/5/1/513c1515fd163dd9bb6ea768c9faf16ba4181162.jpeg
Credit: the726 (http://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/76?u=chris08876)

[chris08876]

Journal Squared’s Second Phase And Tallest Tower Now Rising In Jersey City

https://newyorkyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/JS5.jpg

https://newyorkyimby.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/11730-42655-777x502.jpeg

Whether driving out from the Holland Tunnel, or taking I-78 East or Route 9 into Jersey City, the sight of Journal Squared, designed by HWKN/Hollwich Kushner and Handel Architects and developed by Kushner Real Estate Development, is hard to miss from the highways. Perched on the high hills above the PATH train station to the west of the downtown district, the views and sights of both Jersey City and Manhattan are unbeatable from the top floors. For the past couple of months, work has significantly geared up on the second phase of the complex, which will imminently yield a 72-story residential tower standing 759 feet.

Architecturally identical to its existing shorter twin, it will have 700 units, 18,000 square feet of retail space, and a gross square footage of around 1,000,000 square feet. The construction crane and foundation work are both present as concrete pouring and formwork have been progressing at a quick pace. A large part of the retail floor is being assembled and poured alongside Pavonia Avenue to the north of the tower’s footprint that quickly went up in the past couple of weeks, while progress on the skyscraper portion has also been substantial.

The second tower broke ground almost exactly one year ago. The site of the third and final tower is being used as a staging area for trailers and construction equipment at the intersection of Pavonia Avenue and Summit Avenue. When complete, Tower 2 will stand prominently above the surrounding area with uninterrupted views extending higher past the top of the first tower

Completion of the second phase is expected sometime in 2020.
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NYY (https://newyorkyimby.com/2018/10/journal-squareds-second-phase-and-tallest-tower-now-rising-in-jersey-city.html)

[chris08876]

https://28nwgk2wx3p52fe6o9419sg5-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/journal-squared-phase-2-construction-progress-jersey-city.jpg

https://28nwgk2wx3p52fe6o9419sg5-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/kre-group-journal-squared-phase-2-rises.jpg
Credit: Jersey Digs (https://jerseydigs.com/journal-squared-phase-2-tallest-tower-rising-in-journal-square-jersey-city/)

[patriotizzy]

The younger siblings of 432. They have to stick together because they're not as developed as 432 xD

[chris08876]

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Credit: JC_Heights (http://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/85?u=chris08876)

[pianowizard]

Jersey City is looking increasingly like an extension of Manhattan! 10 - 15 years ago I often stayed at motels in Jersey City when I visited NYC, and I remember thinking that 30 Hudson Street looked rather out of place. But with the addition of more and more skyscrapers, it's now blending in quite well. In fact 30 Hudson Street is now only the 2nd tallest in Jersey City since 99 Hudson Street topped out a couple months ago, and Journal Squared Phase 2 will be nearly as tall. Do you guys think Jersey City will have a supertall soon? I see that two 95-story buildings have been proposed. Hopefully at least one of them will get built!

[chris08876]

I can see it happening. Its getting quite close to the super tall cut off. Only a matter of time before we get a 300m tower. I have a feeling it will be residential based.

On a side note, Journal Square has quite an elevation boost for those that have seen/been to the area, so from sea-level, this will look quite pronounced, as does the existing Phase I.

[pianowizard]

I have a feeling it will be residential based.

Residential towers in Jersey City are probably very appealing to many who work in Manhattan, just like I found Jersey City's motels appealing when I was a tourist visiting Manhattan. Cheaper than living in Manhattan, and getting to work is just a short commute.

[vandelay]

Jersey City is very appealing. It's a good mix of small town, major city, high rises, rowhouses, modern gentrified areas and scruffy post-industrial areas. Very reminiscent of pre-sanitized NYC.

[chris08876]

https://discourse-cdn-sjc1.com/business5/uploads/yimby/optimized/3X/2/1/21185842d6caebcf4c0d4307420c7786f97ee1ae_2_666x500.jpeg
Credit: JC_Heights (http://www.yimbyforums.com/t/jersey-city-537-summit-ave-journal-squared-730-635-575-ft-70-60-54-floors/298/86?u=chris08876)

[mrnyc]

as i recall i dont think the faa would approve anything much taller in jersey city because of the airport approach, so no supertalls, but that newark is ok for them. not sure exactly how true that is, but it makes some sense.

[chris08876]

There was a fire at the site a couple of days ago.